TURA: Chairman of the Garoland State Movement Committee (GSMC) Nikman Ch Marak on Thursday termed the shutting down of internet services in the state as an infringement of freedom of speech and expression of the people, adding that it was no different from the state of emergency declared by the then-prime minister late Indira Gandhi in 1975.
Marak said that the situation in the state was contrary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s declaration of the country as ‘Digital India’, where internet services have become the most essential means of communication for people.
“Putting such a media gag on the people by the government is to divert the people from the much-talked-about Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Various organisations are demonstrating against the Act in a democratic way and the situation is, by and large, peaceful. So, there is no point in shutting down internet services in Garo Hills,” Marak said.
Marak also said that Tura MP Agatha K Sangma’s promise to oppose the CAB (now CAA) in her election campaign and her wholehearted support to the Bill in the Parliament session was condemnable by one and all.
“Since her contradictory speeches, both in the election rally and in Parliament, had gone viral, the abrupt suspension of internet services is nothing but an attempt to stop further spreading of her controversial speeches through mass media,” Marak alleged.
Marak also wondered what exactly is the stand of the NPP on the CAA, as while state party president WR Kharluki and Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong have refused to accept the CAA, the Tura MP, on the other hand, had voted in favour of the Act.
